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“I’m all in.”
Melody was surprised how slowly the rest of the day went. They had a quick dinner at what was becoming their favorite Las Vegas restaurant, a small Italian place with great food. Melody barely tasted her lasagna and when they arrived at the small dance studio, she was practically vibrating with anticipation.
“So you two want to learn the tango.” Their instructor, Juliet, was a lithe blonde with the straight spine of a ballroom dancer. “Is it for your wedding?”
“No,” Melody answered, glancing at Kyle.
“Tonight it’s just for fun.” He met her gaze. His eyes contained a somber note at odds with the half smile curving his lips.
It was at that moment that she realized he really did want to marry her. Not because of the baby, or not only because of the baby. He wanted them to be together. So did she. And the way things had been going with this relationship revitalization exercise, they might actually make it.
To her surprise, butterflies took flight in her stomach when Kyle caught her hand and led her onto the dance floor. He moved with confidence, following Juliet’s instructions, and slid his hand onto Melody’s back. They stood facing each other, the upper halves of their bodies touching.
“Okay, let’s begin,” Juliet said. “Kyle, you are going to step forward with your left, forward with your right, forward with your left and to the side with your right, sliding your left foot as you go.”
She demonstrated his steps and then Melody’s, before slowly calling out the movement as they imitated what she’d shown them. To everyone’s surprise they managed the four steps without mishap.
“Very nice,” Juliet said. “Let’s practice that a few more times and then move on. Remember to bend your knees as you move and keep your spine straight.”
Melody found the experience to be both frustrating and exhilarating. At times her feet didn’t go where they were supposed to and she lost her frame when she started thinking too much. Kyle, on the other hand, was a rock. He moved with careful deliberation through each step. His hold on her didn’t waver and she learned confidence in the circle of his strong arms.
“You’ve done this before,” the instructor said to him as they approached the end of their lesson.
“Never the tango,” Kyle said. “And I haven’t danced in a long time.”
“How long?” Melody asked, curious at his unexpected talent.
“When I was a kid, my mom put me in dance lessons. From age six to eight I learned how to ballroom dance. I didn’t exactly hate it, but it sure wasn’t what my friends were doing. She thought it would be a safer activity for me than playing baseball.”
“What made you stop?”
“Believe it or not my dad didn’t know what I was up to and when he found out, he forced my mom to stop sending me to classes. He enrolled me in baseball instead.”
How could a father not know what his son was up to for two years? Melody wanted to ask, but Juliet started the music once again and they took their places to go over the steps they’d learned one final time before the session was over.
“You must come back and dance more,” Juliet said. “You are both fine students.”
Kyle’s fingers tightened around Melody’s. “I’d be open to it if you would.”
“It would be fun. This has been a great experience.” She felt closer to Kyle. Something about having to coordinate their steps had put them in sync. It was a little bit like the breathing exercise they had done on day five.
“It was a great suggestion,” Kyle said as they headed out to the parking lot.
“At first I wondered why you were so willing to go along with me. Now I find out you took dance lessons as a kid.”
“It’s not exactly something that ups my rep as a cool guy.”
“No, but it does up your rep as a sexy guy.” She put her arm around his waist and snuggled close. “And the way you can move your hips gets me thinking that maybe we should go back to the house and do some more dancing.”
“I like the way your mind works.”
Ten
With rehearsals done for the day, Melody entered the Bird Streets house she’d shared with Kyle for three short months. At first it had felt a little strange to be back in LA and staying with him in the place where once she’d been so wildly optimistic. When she’d first moved in, they’d seemed to be in sync and she’d pinned her hopes on an idyllic future with him. But as the months went on and she’d grown frustrated with his unwillingness or inability to tell her how he felt, she’d become afraid of being hurt. Afraid that he’d disappoint her the way her father and Hunter had.
But in the past week, as she’d split her attention between preparing for her concert at The Roxy and the daily exercises that were bringing her and Kyle closer together, she’d been noticing a shift in her perspective. Each day it was a little easier to open up to Kyle and although conversations about the future continued to make Melody anxious, they’d recently had a wonderful evening stargazing and spent a day showing their appreciation for each other with love notes and special surprises.
Today they were supposed to have sex. This time, it was Kyle’s turn to be spoiled. Melody was ready for this. She had no problem with anything he wanted to do. Their physical relationship had always been comfortable. Much more so than their emotional one.
